Getting Prepped

There is definitely a change in attitude at Hoffman Estates. The Hawks took care of business with by winning the first two of five home games and in both cases - 7-0 over Woodstock in the opener and 19-6 over Elk Grove last week - they were games that would have gone the other way in recent years.
Now the Hawks, who started 2-0 for the first time since 1996, have a chance to win their first three since 1991 when they visit Buffalo Grove on Friday. Third-year coach Bill Helzer knows it's still a process in getting his team to fully believe their start isn't surprising.

Congrats to Montini football coach and Palatine High grad Chris Andriano for being chosen as the Bears High School Coach of the Week. Andriano, one of the class acts in Illinois High School football, won his 200th game in ultra-dramatic fashion Saturday night 34-31 at perennial state power Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin. Montini trailed 28-7 early in the fourth quarter and scored the winning TD as time expired to complete what Andriano called the greatest comeback in the school's history.
The Bears will donate $1,500 to the school's football program and Andriano is invited to the Bears-Jaguars game on Dec. 7, where he will be recognized in an on-field ceremony and take part in a pregame chalk talk with Bears coach Lovie Smith.

Gary Fencik was impressed with the new Barrington Athletic Stadium. Heck, in a lot of ways, particularly the brand-new field turf, it was probably a big upgrade over what the Barrington grad played on at Soldier Field for 12 years as a safety with the Bears in the 1970s and 1980s.
On Friday night, Fencik told DH correspondent Howard Schlossberg: "It's really an improvement over what generations of guys have played on. Visually, to see a state-of-the-art field, it's pretty impressive."
Fencik's dad John was also an assistant principal at Barrington who passed away in 2001. Fencik: "My dad would have loved this. Dad was always proud of the facilities here."

One of my responsibilities in my 13 years here has been to participate in the state football and boys basketball polls for The Associated Press. For football, it used to be one person was responsible for ranking a class - in the old six-class days I had 5A and when the state expanded to eight classes I had 7A. Now it's open to a statewide media vote. Each week I'll post how I voted - although admittedly my "expertise" regarding the smaller classes isn't quite the same as the bigger ones. I'll do the same once basketball season rolls around as well.

Here's my votes this week...

CLASS 8A
1. Mt. Carmel
2. Maine South
3. St. Rita
4. Lincoln-Way East
5. Bartlett
6. Naperville North
7. Homewood-Flossmoor
8. Brother Rice
9. Glenbard North
10. Fremd

CLASS 7A
1. Carmel

We're ready to roll.

All of the preparation and extra time is complete. Now it's time to see the finished product in action.

At times the demands seemed mentally exhausting. But you keep pounding away - albeit at a keyboard rather than a blocking sled.

Just like the players and coaches and fans, we're ready for the return of high school football. Ready to watch all of the drama and excitement under the Friday night lights unfold.